Where to start? Well, the radio was working Wed. night. The car mostly sat through the thanksgiving holiday except for a couple times when a family member moved it when someone was blocked in. Saturday afternoon the radio was totally dead. The MFD says audio off. the radio doesn't have any lights at all including the ones that normally come on when the headlights are on. I've tried the power button, the fm/am/CD etc buttons and the mode button on the steering wheel. This is the version w/ the CD changer and JBL amp under the seat btw. I had a DICE electronics Ipod adapter connected which I promptly disconnected. No change. Checked the fuse, no change. Once I got it home and could tear into it a bit I pulled out the radio and completely removed the wiring adapter for the DICE device. made sure all the connections seemed solid. Wanted to test for power but couldn't find a pinout. I did notice that when I plug the radio back in the CD changer immediately makes noise like it's getting ready to accept or eject a CD so it seems safe to say it's getting power (this is with the car turned off). That's the only sign of life I've seen out of the thing though. Once the noise stops and I turn the car on it goes back to dark silence. Are there any other steps I can take? maybe some button sequence to reset the radio? oh, I also checked the connections under the passenger seat and they also seem to be solid. I'll be happy to provide any info I might have forgotten. Oh, and it seems that with the radio unplugged the MFD doesn't display anything. There goes my idea of putting the dashboard back together sans radio for a few days while I try to work this out. As always, any suggestions or guidance is very much appreciated. Matt PS, I should note that the tape deck quit working on this thing back in '06, that's when I installed the DICE adapter.
Sounds like you have a dead stereo. You may be able to utilize the 68 ohm resistor trick to keep your MFD functional while your stereo is out of the dash. http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-audio-electronics/55179-68ohm-resistor.html You can click the stealth install link in my signature for the pdf that describes how to install the resistor.
Thank you for the response, even if it's not good news. I hadn't heard of the 68 ohm resister trick before. Not sure it'll be worth it for a few days though. Anyway, this unfortunate turn of events leaves me with 3 questions if anyone is able and willing to answer them. 1. What's a good place to buy a radio? I've been searching ebay. (Have been happy w/ the stock radio and would like to stick w/ it.) 2. Anyone know for sure if a radio for a 2006-2008 will work in my '05? The ones I'm seeing are model# 860120-47210. Mine is 860120-47100. I'm pretty sure there were just minor differences, but want to be sure before plopping down my money! 3. Are there any tricks to get the CDs out of my old radio? If not I guess I'll have some fun taking it apart. Always appreciate the helpful advice!! Matt
I don't know of any places that do repairs on factory stereos anymore. Most people just ditch them in favor of a good aftermarket unit with bluetooth and or navigation.
Thanks, knew that was a long shot. I'll prob. send it to a local electronics recycler. I'm quite happy with the sound system. Have navigation built into the car. Bluetooth is the most unreliable thing I've ever had the misfortune of working with (and I can't for the life of me figure out what anyone would do with it on a car stereo of all places???) Would love to get my DICE and CD player/radio going for a couple hundred thousand miles and I'd be thrilled!
Thanks for the replies. Part for fun and part to figure out how to get the CDs out once I get a replacement I took my radio apart. When I put it back together I had 2 screws leftover and it worked! So, I'm saying the diagnosis is 2 bad screws I think I'm going to let the ebay auction end w/o placing a bid, cross my fingers and pray every time I start my car for awhile and see how it goes. Maybe if this happens again I'll figure out where those last 2 screws go
I have two With non functioning CD players; A 2004 That will not recognize CDs A 2006 That has trouble finding tracks Both have working AM/FM radios. I put in a Pioneer Unit so I no longer need the OE radios. JeffD
If this one doesn't hold out we might be able to work something out. I wonder if I could take the CD changer off mine and put it on one of those? it's mostly a separate unit from the radio, just 2 cables connecting them. Regardless, I could get my ipod adapter going and could prob. survive not playing CDs. As long as this one works though I'm not going to keep it simple though.
A similar thing happened to my car (2004). After being parked for a week I started it and the radio was dead. The power button didn't work, nor did the steering wheel controls. If I pressed AUDIO on the MFD, it said AUDIO OFF. After checking this great forum, I checked the ACC fuse (didn't check the Dome because the domelight came on) and it was fine. I checked on eBay for a replacement radio and found a couple candidates. Last night I started the car and the radio was working like normal. One poster had fixed his radio by removing the screws and then leaving two out, but I think the best method is to start shopping for a replacement radio. There was another thread where the person removed the Dome fuse to check it, reinserted it, and the radio started working again. I'll give that a try the next time the radio goes on hiatus.
